Van Wert, Ohio
April 8, 2005
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded
Advanced Biological Marketing
an $80,000 grant for its innovative research in fungicides.
Advanced Biological Marketing was one of 129 small businesses in
42 states awarded with the Small Business Innovation Research
grant.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Small Business Innovation
Research awarded grants totaling over $18.1 million. The grants
are based on scientific and technical merit and the ideas are
investigator initiated. All grants are reviewed by a
confidential peer review using outside experts from non-profit
organizations.
Advanced Biological Marketing will use the grant for two phases
of corn assays and research using T-22™ for Corn, a long-term
companion fungicide that improves yield and protects against
disease through the silking and tassling stage.
The first phase will predict how two-week-old seedlings will
perform in field trials. The goal is to find which corn hybrids
work well with T-22 for Corn. There will be approximately 75
hybrids tested. The second phase is to conduct independent field
tests in Illinois and Ohio and compare the results to the
two-week assays.
Several individuals are involved in the research process for
T-22 for Corn. Below is a list of the key participants and their
roles throughout this project:
-
Dan
Custis, president of Advanced Biological Marketing. He will
serve as the Primary Investigator and Coordinator
-
Leon
Bird, owner of Bird Hybrids, principal stockholder and vice
president of Advanced Biological Marketing. He is the
coordinator of corn genetics and will provide assistance in
coordination with the field testing program.
-
Dr. Jim
Dodd, Professional Seed Research. He will conduct field
disease resistance testing.
-
PSL
Genetics will conduct yield testing.
-
Dr. Gary
Harman, professor, Cornell University. He developed T-22 for
Corn and will conduct rapid laboratory assays and analyze
relationships of data.
In more than 500 university and
commercial field trials T-22 for Corn has shown on average a
five percent yield increase. However, some research has reported
more than 50 percent yield increase.
“We are excited to be given this grant so we can continue our
research and improve one of the most innovative fungicide
products,” said Dan Custis, president of Advanced Biological
Marketing. “Ultimately, we want to find the seed hybrids that
work best with T-22 for Corn to continue to increase yield for
farmers.”
T-22 for Corn was developed by Cornell University. Advanced
Biological Marketing and Cornell University have demonstrated
that T-22 for Corn has protected corn plants from soil-borne
pathogens Pythium, Fusarium, Sclerotina and Rhizoctonia. T-22
for Corn contains a unique strain of the beneficial fungus
Trichoderma harzianum Rifai that grows with the root system
of the plant.
Advanced Biological Marketing (ABM) is a Van Wert, Ohio based
marketer of specialty products for production agriculture in the
United States and Canada. ABM products are some of the most
advanced available today. ABM is committed to educating its
customers about the latest advances in agriculture. The company
was founded in 2000.
T-22™ is a trademark of BioWorks, Inc., Fairport, NY, USA. |